Abstract
The miscommunication and inconsistent recall of patient information due to cognitive lapses that occur during the hand-off between healthcare providers account for 80% of sentinel events in acute care. Cognitive lapses are a consequence of the nurse experiencing cognitive overload, which impedes the nurse's ability to recall relevant information during and after the hand-off communication. The primary cognitive and human factor contributing to cognitive overload in the hand-off is language. The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning of the language used to communicate the nurse-to-nurse change of shift hand-off occurring at bedside and nonbedside on a medical-surgical unit in an urban medical center. A qualitative descriptive design was used. The sample was 10 audio-recorded hand-offs (five bedside and five nonbedside), with a total of 19 nurses participating. A natural language process program was used to analyze the data. The hand-off is a narrative story centered on communicating patient information delivered with a high degree of confidence. The hand-off is focused on past and current events with minimal focus on future or anticipated events. The drive to communicate is minimally based on concern, fear, or danger. There is a difference in the language used to communicate the nursing hand-off message at bedside as compared to the nonbedside hand-off.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 833-843 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Research in Nursing and Health |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2021 |
Keywords
- cognitive overload-communication natural
- language processing
- nursing hand-off
- nursing informatics
- qualitative research
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nursing(all)